Articles, such as disposable garments, have employed adhesive tape tabs to secure the garment onto the body of a wearer. For example, absorbent personal care garments have employed adhesive tabs to secure the waistband portions of the garment about the wearer's waist.
Although a disposable garment, such as a gown, diaper or incontinence garment, is intended for limited use and is not intended to be laundered or cleaned for reuse, it has been desirable to employ a refastenable tape tab system in which the tape tab can be fastened and then peeled away and readhered several times to an appointed tape attachment zone. Ordinarily, the fastening system has employed a relatively large level of adhesion between the adhesive tab and the tape attachment zone to assure a secure fastening. The adhesion force must be sufficient to prevent premature release and opening when the infant moves about. The level of adhesion force has typically been greater than the load capacity of that section of the garment outer layer to which the fastening tab is adhered. As a result, it has been difficult to peel the adhesive tab away from the garment without tearing or excessively stretching the outer layer. Various techniques have been employed to reinforce selected securing zone regions against which the adhesive tape tab can be repeatedly adhered, removed, and readhered.
Some conventional techniques have employed a separate layer of polymer sheet material bonded to the outer cover sheet of a disposable diaper. For example, see U.K. Patent Application GB 2 129 89 A published May 23, 1984, with L. Widlund as inventor; European Patent Application EP 0 080 647 A1 published Jun. 8, 1983, with R. De Jonckheere, et al. as inventors; and U.K. Patent Application GB 2 135 568 A published Sep. 5, 1984, with J. Pasinato, et al. as inventors.
Other diaper structures have reinforced the backsheet material with a structural material, such as scrim or adhesive, to prevent stretching and rupture of the backsheet due to tension imparted by fastening tape tabs during diapering, wearing of the diaper and removal of the diaper from an infant. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,940 issued Feb. 25, 1975, to F. Mesek, et al.
Garment structures have also employed a refastenable tape system in which the outer cover of the garment is reinforced with a pattern of adhesive. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,144 issued Jul. 1, 1980, to H. Sarge III, et al. reinforces the backsheet by coating it with a material having a high tensile strength and a low elongation tensile force property relative to the backsheet material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,950 issued Oct. 27, 1981, to L. S. Woon, et al. reinforces the backsheet of a garment with a layer of hot melt adhesive to provide strengthened tape securement zones. The hot melt adhesive layer has a lower modulus of elasticity than the film and is applied in a heat-softened condition.
Refastenable tape systems have employed multi-piece tapes which include a fastening tape portion and a target tape portion. Once the target tape portion has been initially positioned and secured onto a selected portion of a garment, the fastening tape can then be repeatedly removed and readhered. For example, see European Patent Application EP 0 148 587 A2 published Jul. 17, 1985, with P. Pape as inventor.
Adhesive taping systems have also employed specially tailored adhesives. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,024 issued Sep. 6, 1988 to Charles O. Pike et al. (Century Adhesives Corporation) describes a system which employs less aggressive adhesives to prevent the tearing of the outer cover of a garment.
Conventional refastenable tape systems, such as those described above, have not been completely satisfactory. For example, multi-piece tape systems, such as those described in EP 0 148 587 A2, can require a precise balance between the adhesive force which secures the target tape member to the outer surface of the garment and the adhesive force which secures the fastening tape tab onto the target member. If the adhesive force between the fastening tape and the target member is too high, the target member may be pulled or torn away from the garment. Also, the target member is relatively small and allows only a small amount of repositioning of the fastening tape tab once the target member is affixed onto the outer surface of the garment. Systems which employ separate sheet layers of plastic film or scrim material bonded to the garment outer cover can require complicated and costly manufacturing equipment and processes. Conventional systems which employ layers or patterns of hot melt adhesive applied to the garment outer cover can excessively stiffen the surface of the garment and degrade the aesthetic appeal, and systems which employ reduced levels of adhesion between the adhesive tabs and the tape attachment zone have been susceptible to premature release.